Heart of the Matter
by rozisa
Summary: Sequel to Accidental Zombie. Owen wants Martha to perform risky surgery on him in the hope that he can come back to life. Owen/Diane, Gwen/Rhys, Jack/Ianto. Mention of mpreg
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does. If I did, Owen, Tosh and Ianto would still be alive. I didn't see Miracle Day. So assume it never happened.

xxxx

"When I said, 'I'm OK,' I lied," said Owen, watching everyone else eat the spaghetti dinner Diane made. "I still don't have rigor mortis and my brain cells are still active, so I can get a new heart and a blood transfusion."

Diane, Mickey and Martha just looked at him and said nothing.

Owen then asked, "Why not?"

"And there is a waiting list for hearts for people that are still alive," said Martha.

"You are such a party pooper," said Owen.

After chewing the food in his mouth, Mickey said, "We could so get one."

"We no longer have the hub," said Martha. "Where would this illegal surgery take place?"

"The hospital I work at would be nice," said Owen. "You have your UNIT connections. And Jack can push buttons as the head of Torchwood."

Diane said, "You could die for real."

"It's worth it," said Owen. "To feel you, again. I'm watching life as an outsider. I want to part of the action, even if it's only long enough to die from some complication or for my body to reject my new heart. Martha, haven't you ever wanted to play Dr. Frankenstein?"

Martha rolled her eyes. "I've done enough of that."

"On me," said Owen.

"And for UNIT," said Martha. "I've reanimated alien corpses a few times. If we can get a compatible heart, I would have you alive and breathing. No problem."

"Jack won't retcon me because Gwen was retconned and it didn't stick because she saw Jack and all us, again," Owen remarked. "I would still be living with Diane and would see things that would trigger memories. Jack lets Diane remember and Rhys."

Martha said, "This isn't going to be a walk in the park. If you don't die on the operating table, you're going to be in horrible pain: open heart surgery, your broken finger, the cut on your hand, every sore and wound that you experienced while dead will be fresh and throbbing."

"Drugs." Owen smiled.

"Too much drugs and your new heart will stop," said Martha. "We can take the edge off, but you're going to be in some serious pain and you've been totally pain-free for a long time."

Owen cringed at the thought. "It will be worth it."

"It could be months or years before we find a compatible heart," said Martha.

Mickey said, "Then I better start looking."

xxxx

Months or years. Owen smiled a bit more at work. He had a possible future. He wasn't just waiting for the energy powering his body to give out or his body to suffer enough damage that it would simply fail.

At lunch, Uneek said, "Owen, share. You've been grinning like the Cheshire cat."

"My friends agreed to play Frankenstein, if a compatible heart can be found."

"That's great," said Uneek.

"It's far from a done deal, and if they can pull it off, I will most likely die on the operating table."

"But you still want to try."

"To feel Diane's hand touch mine. I feel pressure, but I don't feel warmth or cold or pain. I'll probably gain 4 stones while recovering from surgery. To eat, again. You have no idea."

"You're still beaming," said Uneek.

xxxx

Author's Note: Martha plays Dr. Frankenstein in my Avengers' story, _Safety First_. Warning: I didn't mark it as a crossover story because you don't need to have seen Doctor Who or Torchwood to appreciate the story, but it helps. Please, review.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I still don't own Torchwood. It is owned by BBC.

xxxx

Owen went to work and did all the things he did to pass time: hung out with friends, played video games, spend time in cyberspace. A month went by then another. Work went faster now that Uneek had included him in her circle of friends. He still worried each time Diane flew for cash, but other than that he was enjoying his existence.

One night or day (he wasn't real sure of the time), he woke up in a hospital bed in enough pain that he only wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and will the pain away. Screaming also would be good, but his body felt so heavy that screaming felt like too much work. Through his half-open eyes he saw his chest was bandaged and so was his left hand. He was hooked up to an IV and monitors.

Traumatic amnesia. He couldn't remember going to the hospital. He hasn't sleep or lost consciousness for any reason in over a year. Now a chunk of his time was missing. The pain from every nerve ending in his body kept him from naming all the nerve endings firing.

In the haze of pain, he could hear Diane's voice. "Owen, I love you."

Owen figured, if he opened his mouth, he would scream to spite the heaviness in his chest, so he glanced in the direction of Diane's voice without turning his head or opening his eyes too much. He couldn't see her face but he could see her hand touching his.

"You don't have to talk," said Diane. "You're awake and your new heart is beating."

Owen took a deep breath and, boy, did his chest hurt. He coughed. Breathing hurt then everything hurt. But he was alive and alive was good. When he went to look at Diane, he closed his eyes from the pain. Just moving his head slightly hurt.

"You don't have to see anyone from the hospital until your make-up is done and you're wearing a nice dressing gown." Diane said, "Martha hasn't put a hospital gown on you because she wants to see your bandages."

Owen didn't think Martha would leave him naked, so he must have had pants on. Since he couldn't because he was dead, he gave up on wearing sexy underwear and worn comfy boxers. He would have to look or touch down there later. At the moment, it felt like too much work.

Owen recalled that Barbara pulled out all his facial hair when he was dead to give them a smoother surface to work on. It was tweezed, not electrolysed, so it may eventually grow back. He had been asleep long enough that his face didn't hurt from the tweezing. Then the chest pain would overshadow any minor soreness.

At the time, Owen was amazed that Barbara could pull out hair already cut short by shaving. After that Owen painted on whiskers to look more male. Looking in the mirror could wait until he was a bit less sore.

xxxx

Minutes or hours later, Martha come into the room. "No signs of rejection. I can see by your winching that you need more pain medicine. I can give you more, but we shall need to wean you off. You don't want to become addicted."

Martha put something into Owen's IV. He would need to open his eyes a bit more to see what it was. Owen tried to smile at Martha through the pain.

"This area of the hospital has been sectioned off. You aren't officially here. Jack still has some pull," said Martha. "We retconned my surgical team. Everything is very hush-hush."

"My heart?" asked Owen, through the pain.

"It went missing in transport," said Martha. "Those things happen."

Owen took a calming breath to keep from screaming, but tears were running down his eyes from the pain. Finally, the pain was a bit less. A bit more manageable. Martha gave him the good stuff.

"No one died because a heart, suddenly, went missing," said Owen.

"People die waiting for transplants all the time," said Martha. "But in this case another heart was found."

Owen smiled. "You're lying to make me feel better."

"Ianto had the heart when I arrived at the hospital," said Martha. "I'm just the doctor."

Owen smiled some more. That really was the good stuff. "Then he's lying to make you feel better."

"Talking about Ianto, Ianto and Jack should be visiting later today or tomorrow," said Martha. "Don't tease Jack about being an expectant mother. That's Ianto's job as the Jack's partner."

"But it's so much fun," said Owen.

Martha gave Owen the evil eye. "Any time you want Uneek can come by and make you pretty."

"You keep giving me morphine and she can put bows in my hair," said Owen.

"I'll tell her," said Martha. "I sent Diane home for a nap. You should nap, too. I'll be back in a few hours to check your vitals."

"I can nap and have vitals," said Owen. "It's probably the drugs talking, but thank you so much. I could never repay you."

"You took a bullet for me." Martha waved to him after taking a step toward the door. "Sleep well." Then she left the hospital room.

No windows. They were probably in the basement or something. Or it wasn't a hospital at all, only a room equipped as a hospital intensive care unit. Hospital. He had to been close to an operating theatre since he was in no condition to be moved. Owen closed his eyes and fell off to sleep. Nice morphine. Good morphine.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

Martha with more medicine then another nap. Then Diane, finally, returned with Uneek.

"Nice boxers," said Uneek.

"Thanks." Owen went to put his good hand down there then decided against it. Even his good hand hurt and the slightest movement seemed to pull on his stitches. He had adjusted the bed, so his head was high enough that he could see his visitors without moving his head. He needed to ask Martha to lower his drugs because even playing with the remote made him giggle.

"I bought you a pink dressing gown," said Uneek. "Because you like pink."

"No dressing gown until I can sit up." Owen thought about his pink jumper that he had worn to work almost everyday. Pink lipstick and a pink jumper. Pink for Lizzie.

"When can I tell our co-workers that you had a heart transplant?" asked Uneek.

"When I'm moved out of a hidden area of the hospital to a patient room," said Owen. "Not a moment before."

"Everyone is asking about you," said Uneek.

Diane said, "Owen could be moved in a day or two."

"People care?" said Owen. "I'm the crazy lady that screams 'Don't touch me!' when people get too close and I hide in a book during lunch."

"We all have our issues," said Uneek.

"Some of us have more issues than others," Owen said, smiling from the medicine. "I don't remember arriving in the hospital. A dead man can't be medicated or knocked unconscious. How did I get here?"

Uneek looked at Diane.

"You walked to Martha's car and she drove us here," Diane explained. "Ianto was here with the heart and they rushed you into surgery. Martha's assistant was screaming that he couldn't operate on a conscious patient. The surgical nurse agreed to assist only because Jack promised she would be retconned afterwards and wouldn't remember a thing. Then the doctor and the anaesthesiologist agreed."

"Was I retconned?" asked Owen.

"It's possible," said Diane. "Jack must have had a good reason."

"I'm a doctor," said Owen. "I wouldn't have freaked seeing my chest cavity open."

Diane took Owen's hand. "You can ask Jack about it when he gets here."

"Since I'm going to be on immunosuppressing drugs for the rest of my life, maybe, not having too many people touch me is a good thing," teased Owen, not really wanting to talk about Jack. Then again, being close to death could make him be a bit less phobic about people touching him or more. He had a lot to think about, but he would have plenty of time to think while recovering. "Uneek, it is good to see you."

Uneek kissed his cheek. "Get well."

Diane asked, "Are you going back to medicine now that you have warm hands?"

"I have to think about it." Owen smiled. "I have a lot to think about. I'll consider my options when I'm less stoned. Why didn't Jack just make me forget being dead?"

"He can't turn back the calenders," Diane said.

"Good point," said Owen. "I would hear the date on the telly and would know that my stitches were fresh and I don't have any scars from any previous heart surgeries. Any inconsistency could make me question my memories."

Uneek said, "You're a doctor?"

"Yes, I am," said Owen. "Does that surprise you?"

Uneek said, "A little."

"Doctor, part-time wedding fairy and King of the Weevils." Owen giggled. "And stoned."

"You're no fairy," said Diane.

"So says my lesbian lover," said Owen.

After placing a hand on the bed to support her weight, Diane kissed Owen on the lips. Owen felt her warm mouth as her tongue touched his. He suppressed a giggle. Damn morphine. Good morphine - less pain. Back to kissing Diane.

After Diane used her hands to push herself up, Diane said, "Nice kiss."

"When my stitches are healed, we'll do more than kiss," said Owen.

Uneek waved. "Good-bye Owen. I'll leave the dressing gown here."

"Thanks." Owen smiled and lifted his hand a bit to wave back.

Uneek put the dressing gown in the wardrobe. "Bye, again."

Owen put his hand back on the bed. Who knew lifting your hand a few centimetres could be so tiring?

After Uneek left, Diane said, "Let's get back to the kissing."

"All that kissing and waving tired me out," said Owen. "I need to rest."

Diane said, "May I sit here while you sleep?"

Owen closed his eyes. "Please, do."

xxxx

From the times Owen was awakened to check his vitals and from Diane sleeping in the chair, Owen figured it was late at night or the next day when Jack and Ianto, finally, arrived.

Ianto said, "It's good to see you awake."

"Sleeping is great. My hair is growing; my wounds are healing, I'm breathing," Owen said. "I'm eating from a tube, but you can't have everything."

Ianto said, "You'll be eating soon enough."

Owen said, "Whisper. Diane needs her rest."

Jack said, "Should I be expecting you back at Torchwood?"

"You have a doctor," Owen whispered back.

"Your talents don't lie in medicine," said Jack.

"I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment," said Owen.

Jack said in a soft sexy voice, "Take it as a compliment."

"I'll think about it," said Owen. "You didn't retcon my memories of Torchwood because you want me back on the team."

"I'm not that much of a psychopath," said Jack.

"Then you admit that you like me," said Owen. "You like me. You really like me."

"You aren't Sally Fields," said Jack.

"Why did you retcon my heart transplant surgery?" Owen asked.

"Doctors don't make good patients," said Jack. "You don't need to remember it, so don't try."

Ianto took Jack's hand then said, "The anaesthesia didn't work until you were alive. Jack had to soundproof the operating theatre to keep everyone in a 5 kilometre radius from hearing your screams."

Owen nodded. "Jack, thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Jack.

Ianto said, "Jackie is getting all soft now that he's going to be a mummy."

"Daddy," said Jack.

Ianto put a hand on Jack's baby bump. "In a few months, he'll need the TARDIS key to go to the store. Our unborn child is mortal, so Jackie can't be jumping in front of bullets."

"That will be hard for him," said Owen.

Jack looked at the bandages around Owen's chest. "The pot is calling the kettle black."

"Then I know of what I speak," said Owen.

xxxx

Author's Note: Martha and Jack were given TARDIS keys that alter the perception field by the Doctor. People can still see you, but they fail to notice you. Like the Doctor fails to notice Martha and Jack. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

In a few days, Owen was moved to a regular hospital room. Martha was helping him sit up, but he still wasn't up to walking. Today food service bought him custard and clear broth for tea. Diane was watching as he lifted his spoon.

"This isn't what I imagined my first meal would be," teased Owen. He put a spoonful of vanilla custard into his mouth and rolled it around with his tongue before swallowing. "Nice. Sweet and creamy."

"You walk around the room and I'll sneak in a cheeseburger," said Diane.

Owen took another spoonful. "You're on." After finishing his tea, Owen rolled himself onto his elbow then pushing himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed. "Get my dressing gown out of the wardrobe. Maybe, tomorrow, I'll wear whatever I wore to the hospital, but buttoning a blouse is a bit much for today, not to mention, pulling up my trousers is bound to hurt."

Diane handed Owen the pink dressing gown. "I'll get your slippers and you can stand."

"Without a nurse present?"

"You're strong healthy." Diane took the slippers from the wardrobe. "You fall and you get back up and try, again."

Owen managed to get the dressing gown on without his bandaged hand. "I can't bend down."

"We wouldn't want you to pull your stitches." Diane put the blue terrycloth slippers on his feet. "All done. You can stand."

Owen stepped onto the hospital floor. "Opiates are your friends, but they make you wobbly."

"You're stoned," said Diane.

"You've noticed," teased Owen.

"We can ask Martha to lower the dosage, but you aren't getting out of walking." Diane offered Owen her hand. "Each step is going to hurt, but you need to do this."

Owen put an arm around Diane and took another step. "How do I look?"

"Like someone that had major surgery and is on a few too many painkillers," said Diane.

Owen giggled. "No kidding, but is my hair brushed?"

"You have serious bedhead. Sit down. And I'll comb it." Diane helped Owen to return to sitting on the bed then she combed his hair. "You walked around the room. You get the cheeseburger. By tomorrow, you should be walking to the toilet."

"No more bedpan," said Owen.

"Or urinal," said Diane.

Owen smiled. "Now that is a goal."

xxxx

Later that day, Owen's boss, Eileen, came into his room. "Why didn't you tell me you were on the transplant list?"

"I told Uneek," said Owen. "I didn't want anyone else knowing in case I died before they found one."

"You're a great worker," said Eileen. "Whenever you're ready to come back, your job is waiting."

"My previous boss also offered me a position." Owen drank his water out of his straw. "It's nice to have options."

"You do eat," she teased.

"Uneek teased that I was a robot because I don't like eating in public," said Owen. "I got in trouble for ordering pizza at my last job. I said that, didn't I? My doctor is weaning me off the morphine, but I'm still not firing with all thrusters."

"Owen, you're a nice boy."

Owen drank more of his water. "I'm a mess." He didn't curse because she was still his boss until he decided otherwise. He was thinking about returning to Flat Holm because now that he had a body temperature he could help out in more ways than doing laundry. Their patients could use another health care provider. Still the boat trip to work was a drowner. However, Diane was flying more, so he wouldn't be the only one that would be away from the flat for extended periods.

"I can't discriminate due to age, but how old are you?"

"27," said Owen.

"You look younger."

Owen didn't take another sip of water. "I feel older."

"Do you have a congenital defect?"

"I want to lie and say yes, but all the drugs in my system means the truth will leak out anyway. I was shot. My former boss walked through a mob of Weevils to save my life." Jack did something his own family wouldn't. He wasn't going to let the morphine affect his emotions - like he could stop the smiles and giggles. "My mum kicked me out of the house when I was 16. My own mum."

"Did she kick you out because you dress in women's clothes?"

"No, but I am who I am in pants or a skirt. Does that make sense?" Owen wasn't going to talk about his mother's drinking or her boyfriends and that he was happy that she kicked him out since she had saved him the trouble of packing his own bags to leave. His mum did see him doing more than snogging his best mate in his bedroom, but that couldn't be the reason. His mum had invited his best mate for tea afterward. Totally, out of character for her. That was neither here nor there. Water under the bridge.

"Yes, it does." She touched the tray table over the hospital bed where Owen's plastic water cup was with the straw still in it. "May I touch you? I know you don't like being touched."

"Please, don't. Immuninosuppressant drugs."

She put her hand back in her lap. "Sorry."

"When you're stoned your lies sometimes say more than the truth. I should shut up."

"Owen, you're more than an employee to me. I like you as a person. You always smile at the patients and are friendly. You must have had a hard life. Sometimes, you take it out on me or your co-workers, but never the patients."

While Eileen was talking, Diane came in with a McDonald's bag.

"A cheeseburger, plain," said Diane. "We can do all the fixings later. We shouldn't push it."

Owen said, "Eileen, this is my SO, Diane. Eileen is the head of housekeeping."

Diane tried to cover the fast food bag with her jacket and was failing. "You won't tell the diet police."

Eileen said, "One small cheeseburger won't kill him. No chips. Those will kill you."

Diane placed the bag on Owen's tray table then kissed his cheek.

"Does Owen eat around you? Or do we both have to leave?" asked Eileen.

"He eats around me, but it makes him uncomfortable," said Diane.

Owen hated that she was lying for him.

"We should both leave," suggested Diane.

After the women left the hospital room, Owen ate his cheeseburger. A regular-sized McDonald's cheeseburger with no fixings never tasted so good. He washed it down with hospital tap water. Coca-Cola would have to wait for another day. Beer would need to wait until he was off painkillers. As a doctor, he knew alcohol and painkillers don't mix.

A few minutes later, Diane came into the room and threw out the trash on Owen's tray table. "Did you enjoy the burger?"

"It was amazing," said Owen. "We need to have a pizza party when I get back home. I told Uneek that I was going to gain 4 stones while recovering."

"I hope you were joking. We can see a nutritionist while we're here. And we can discuss healthy diets."

"You can tell people I'm working on being more comfortable eating around other people. Eating is a social activity. I never said I had a phobia about eating around people. My co-workers made that assumption and I didn't argue with them."

"Next time, I'll buy two cheeseburgers."

"And Coke," said Owen.

"Diet for you," teased Diane.

"I haven't decided what to do with my life, but working as a housekeeper is low on the list," Owen explained.

"Once your hand is healed, couldn't you apply to hospitals?"

"Dr. Owen Harper hasn't legally existed since I started working for Torchwood since it's a secret government agency," explained Owen. "I could apply, but I have no guarantee anyone will say yes."

"You don't apply then no one will say yes," said Diane. "If they say 'no' or 'we have no openings at this time', you are no worse than when you started."

"I have much to think about."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

Finally, Owen got the OK to finish recovering at home. He was off morphine and on a low dose of Oxycontin to take as needed. Gwen and Rhys bought Anwen to the party. As promised there was pizza and soft drinks. Owen told himself he would be a good patient and no beer until he was off the painkillers. He needed to wean himself off the painkillers, so he wouldn't just be substituting the alcohol for the drugs. He had to do this the right way. As a doctor, he knew all about patients becoming addicted to painkillers. And substituting one addiction for another also wasn't the answer.

While Gwen was nursing Anwen, she teased, "When are you and Diane going to have a little one?"

Diane said, "Owen is thinking about returning to Flat Holm and I'm away for days at a time. A baby doesn't really fit into our lifestyle."

"A baby doesn't fit into anyone's lifestyle. You buy the bigger house and change your life in countless ways for the baby. But it is all worth it?" Rhys said putting an arm around Gwen as he smiled at the baby on her tit.

Diane walked over to Martha and asked, "How does this perception filter thing work? If people don't see you, how can you pay for your groceries?"

"They see you; they just don't notice you," said Martha. "Jack with his pheromones, amazing good looks and smile that can turn even the straightest man queer can pay for his food and the cashier won't even glance his way."

"That I have to see," said Diane.

"You won't see it because you will also be affected by the perception filter," teased Martha.

"I don't get it," said Diane.

"It works," said Martha. "I used it for over a year. I spoke to thousands of people and none them could have told you what I looked like or sounded like, but they remembered my message."

"We have built-in perception filters," said Gwen.

"I suppose." Diane looked at Gwen and the baby. "I can be amazed by the simplest technology and people will come up with a thousand reasons that don't have anything to do with me being from a different time."

"Or yell bananas," teased Owen.

Gwen said, "Rhys had all these interesting theories of what I did that had nothing to do with fighting aliens."

Rhys frowned at Gwen.

"See; no one will see a pregnant man," said Gwen.

Ianto said, "He is still wearing the TARDIS key in public."

"Shhh," said Gwen. "Uneek and Dave are around somewhere."

As on cue, Uneek took another slice of pizza. "What did I miss?"

"Not much," said Owen, grabbing his own slice. "We were talking perception filters like when no one sees a dead man walking. We buy tabloids about alien babies, but if we actually saw one, we would say 'What an ugly child' and think nothing more about it."

"I would see an alien baby," said Uneek.

"You would see it," said Martha. "Not notice it. That's the difference."

"I figured out that Owen was an alien robot," said Uneek. "Alright, I was wrong, but everyone else accepted that he didn't like being touched and had a phobia about eating in public."

"Everyone accepted," said Martha.

"We don't know that," said Gwen. "They could all be thinking that Owen was a robot or something, but they were too embarrassed to admit it."

"See," said Uneek. "Your perception filter theory is wrong."

"Gwen is playing Devil's Advocate by debating both sides of the issue," said Owen. "Also working for Torchwood taught me to see things others miss. I can't go back to missing the signs of alien influence. That's why Jack has threatened to retcon me if I left the fold."

"I bought Owen food while Eileen was visiting," said Diane. "Then suggested we leave the room, so Owen could eat."

Owen washed down a mouthful of pizza with soda. He could so use a beer, but he was on drugs and he had to be good. "I eat now, so it's a non-issue."

Uneek asked, "Are you coming back to the hospital?"

"Probably not," said Owen. "I'm thinking about returning to the mental facility I worked at before I was hired at the hospital. Since I'm no longer room temperature I can do more to help than wash and fold laundry."

Uneek said, "You can fold laundry faster now that you have two hands."

"If I take a liking to it; maybe, I'll train to be a psychiatrist," said Owen. "I'm not yet thirty. I have my whole life ahead of me."

Diane put her arms around Owen.

Jack said, "You can start any time you're ready."

"Where did you come from?" asked Diane.

Ianto removed Jack's key from around his neck. "Not at Owen's party."

Uneek asked, "What's a Weevil? And why is Owen king of them?"

"Weevils wobble but they don't fall down," said Jack. "Owen had a tendency to come to work hangover or drunk when he first started. Then I hired him right after his fiancee died and didn't give him a chance to grieve."

Oi," exclaimed Ianto.

Owen smiled at Jack's comeback. "King of the Weevils. I'm stoned but I'm still standing."

Ianto whispered into Owen's ear. "Our intrepid boss has turned into a marshmallow."

Owen whispered back. "I hope he stays one after he pops."

Jack said, "You talking about me?"

"No," lied Ianto. "Alien stuff and we don't want the civilians hearing."

Owen took his slice of pizza and sat down. "Uneek, since Jack just hired me back, I'm going to turn in my resignation to Eileen. Are we still friends?"

After sitting down beside him, Uneek put an arm around Owen. "Of course."

xxxx

Author's Note: Jack has an American accent, so he can say American product slogans and get away with it. Yes, it is "Weebles wooble" but he had to think of something fast.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I don't own BBC. Torchwood does.

xxxx

After everyone left, Diane had Owen put up his feet. "You don't have to prove how macho you are by overdoing it."

"Me macho?" Owen retorted. "I wore a ladies dressing gown and terrycloth slippers at the hospital."

"That only makes you want to prove something to yourself more." Diane sat beside him on the sofa and rubbed circles on his back. "You had major surgery. Just because they released you from hospital doesn't mean business like usual."

"Sometimes I want to see that girl in the mirror that I was for close to a year," said Owen. "I don't know if that makes me crazy."

"It doesn't." Diane massaged his shoulders. "You got comfort from being her."

"I'm alive now; thus, I don't have to hide under make-up," said Owen. "However, I'm either in pain or high from the medicine. I don't like either option. What I do know is I have to get used to seeing me and I can't hide under a facade."

"I think working at Flat Holm is a better choice for you than returning to Torchwood," said Diane. "Even Jack thinks you made the right choice."

"Ianto says that Jack is soft and emotional from all the pregnancy hormones."

"He's still Captain Jack Harkness."

"Me working at Flat Holm gives him an out," said Owen. "He doesn't have to retcon me because I'm still technically working for Torchwood and he doesn't have an invalid out in the field."

"You aren't an invalid," said Diane.

"I'm on immunosuppressant drugs and I'll always have to limit my physical exertion. Don't sugarcoat it!"

"You can return to working as a doctor and you can do any job that doesn't require heavy lifting or other strenuous activity," said Diane. "You were told light activity with plenty of rest for six more weeks - only because Martha is siding on caution. You could go to work in four if you want."

"I may," said Owen. "I hate lying around doing nothing."

"We can watch a film and cuddle on the sofa."

Owen kissed Diane's cheek. "That sounds like a plan."

"People don't usually become alive again after being dead for over a year, so Martha's recommendations are just that. We will have play a lot of things by ear."

"Including when we have sex?" said Owen.

"It has been a long time." Diane rested her hands on his shoulders then kissed his neck. "That's one way to get the blood flowing."

Owen smiled. "It's flowing."

xxxx

A few weeks later, Owen took the boat to Flat Holm then went to see the director. "Captain Harkness hired me back. Touch my hand."

The director touched his hand.

"Take my pulse," said Owen.

She did. "Wow."

While the woman was still touching his wrist, Owen said, "I'm offering my services as staff doctor."

She let on off his wrist. "Welcome aboard."

"I hope you don't mind that Captain Harkness rehired me without consulting you."

"As I said earlier, we can use the help. I'll give you all the residents' charts and we'll take it from there. We've had doctors visit, but when you need to retcon the doctors, follow-up becomes an issue."

"You don't retcon after every visit?" asked Owen.

"Only when the doctors are too distressed by the facility or our residents and it's the only way," she explained. "Which happens more often than I like. Having a doctor on staff is a Godsend."

"I'll go over the charts then meet with the nursing staff," said Owen. As staff doctor, Owen did more than adjust patients' medication. He talked to patients and went over their treatment options with the other staff members. Sometimes, when they were lucky, treatment included community involvement, leading to possible assimilation into the community. Owen was surprised that so many of the 73 refugees dropped on Flat Holm were still with them.

Putting patients on anti-psychotic drugs (Thus, seeing all the side effects associated with long-term prescription drug use.) made Owen decide to deal with the pain and only take over-the-counter medicine when the pain got too much. The Oxycontin stayed in the medicine cabinet untouched. Eventually, when he no longer needed the crutch of knowing it was there, he would toss it out.

xxxx

Wearing an business suit he bought before Katie died, Owen looked very much the young urban professional. The staff doctor of a mental hospital needed to look the part. Owen took the bus to Nikki Bevan's flat. He knocked at the door. "Ms. Bevan, may I come in?"

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Dr. Owen Harper," he said. "I just started working as staff doctor at the Flat Holm facility."

"I'll get us some tea," said Nikki.

Owen looked around the room of the small cosy flat. Nikki had no reminders in the living room of her son, which Owen felt was sad. Then Owen kept but never looked at pictures of Katie. So he understood. When he lost Katie, he felt he lost his reason for living. However, Jonah was still alive when Katie wasn't.

Finally, Nikki came back with two cups of tea. "Seeing Jonah is too hard."

"My SO came through the rift like your son," explained Owen. "She came from 1953; therefore, all her family and friends are deceased. Jonah still has family. Sometimes, it isn't easy to do the right thing. I'm working with Jonah. And he still screams but he has moments of clarity."

"Are you a psychiatrist?" asked Nikki.

"Not yet," admitted Owen, "But after meeting the patients at Flat Holm, I found my calling."

Owen drank some tea. Sometimes, silence was a good thing that it didn't need to be filled with inane chatter. He watched Nikki drink her tea, letting her know that he would stay as long as he was welcome.

"PC Cooper tried to be helpful," Nikki, finally, said. "I shouldn't have told her not to tell anyone else. Reality is better than a fantasy, but reality isn't easy."

"No, it isn't," agreed Owen.

"You speak from experience," said Nikki.

"I'm here for you and Jonah," Owen gave her his card. He was the therapist and she was the client. "Whenever you need me."

Nikki put the card on the table without looking at it. "Does Jonah ask for me?"

Owen wasn't going to lie to ease the woman's guilt. "He has."

Nikki grabbed her jumper. "Then what are we waiting for?"

xxxx

Author's Note: Don't worry. I'm going to write more because everyone including me is interested in Jack and Ianto's baby. However, I left my Harry Potter story hanging, so I need to spend some time finishing that one.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does. I know I said I was going to work on my Harry Potter stories, but my muse decided otherwise.

xxxx

Looking through his records, Owen noticed that the rift had dropped off no one since the Hub was destroyed. He phoned Mickey. "Mr. Mouse, has the rift taken anyone recently?"

"How recently?" asked Mickey. "And it's Mr. Smith."

Owen could hear Jack laughing in the background.

"Since the new detector was built?" clarified Owen.

"No, but that is a good thing," said Mickey.

"I was going through the charts and our last patient arrived only a couple months after the 73 people were dumped onto the island," said Owen. "Then nobody."

"It means nothing," said Mickey. "The rift has periods of high activity then it will be dormant for a short time then will spike, again."

"I wish Tosh was here," said Owen.

"We all do," said Martha.

"Who else is listening?" asked Owen.

"Gwen and Ianto are out," said Jack. "I'm stuck in Torchwood 6 waiting to hatch."

"You still haven't told me the new location," said Owen.

"I could tell you, but I would have to retcon you," teased Jack.

"I'm not longer in your inner circle," said Owen. "I'm hurt. OUCH! I could hang up."

"Don't hang up," said Martha. "Jack will be good."

"Jack, is there rift activity?" asked Owen.

"None since 456 died," said Jack.

"According to the computer records, the rift activity stopped when Stephen Carter screamed," said Mickey. "His death didn't only save the world but seems to have closed the rift."

Owen said, "Jack talk to me."

Mickey said, "Martha is taking him to his office for a lie down. He killed his grandson to save the world. It isn't something he can forget. Plus his body is full of all those pregnancy hormones. Normal pregnant women cry when a sad song comes on the radio."

"I should let you go man the computer," Owen said, thinking about when Gwen was expecting Anwen and her all but confessing her love for him in that prison cell.

"Jack would take you back," said Mickey.

"I can't go out in the field and Martha is a better doctor," said Owen, "Besides I love working here. I feel like I can make a difference in my patients' lives. I work four days a week and have 3 days off. I was always on the clock with Torchwood."

"Gwen's mother watches Anwen," said Mickey. "Since Rhiannon lives too far away to watch her nephew, Ianto has been interviewing nannies. How do you explain to Rhiannon that Jack has alien DNA and is hermaphrodite and any child he births will be like him?"

"The DNA in his ovaries must be different than his sperm since Alice is a normal human female," Owen commented.

"Who still isn't talking to her father," said Mickey. "In his more hormonal moments he cries about that."

"I can talk to Alice. I got Ms. Bevin to see her son and no one saw that coming." Owen wrote down Alice's address and phone number then steered Mickey into talking about the rift and the lack of activity since the 456's visit.

xxxx

On his next day off, Owen and Diane drove to Alice's house. Owen parked the car and turned off the engine. "You should stay in the car."

"I didn't travel all this way to stay in the car," said Diane.

"Fine, come in," said Owen. "She hung up on me twice, so she may not be real friendly."

"Car then," said Diane.

After he got out of the heated car, Owen zipped his jacket to keep out the cold. "After five minutes, knock on the door. No reason to sit in the cold."

"The car has heat," said Diane.

Owen was hoping to be able to use Diane to get out of an awkward situation, if necessary, but Diane wasn't falling for it. Owen, finally, knocked on the door of Alice's new cottage. Nice place in a small fishing village. Not that she could really hide from her father anywhere on the planet.

"Ms. Carter, I'm Dr. Harper," said Owen. "We spoke on the phone."

Alice started to close the door, which Owen blocked with his foot.

"If you like your foot, I would suggest you remove it from my property," said Alice.

"Just a second," said Owen. "Your father doesn't know I'm here. He and his SO are expecting a baby. And he thinks about you."

"He killed my Stephen while I watched," said Alice.

"I wasn't there, but the way I understand it, he didn't have time to find another child," said Owen. "And you couldn't expect him to sacrifice someone else's grandchild. It killed him inside. You know this."

"Stephen was my world." Alice had opened the door, freeing Owen's foot, but she was blocking the doorway with her body to keep him from entering her house.

"Ignoring your father isn't going to bring Stephen back," said Owen. "You need each other more than ever. Holding onto your angry is like drinking poisoning and hoping someone else dies."

"It's all I have," said Alice. "Please, go."

"I'll go," said Owen. "Farewell." Walking back to the car, he felt a bit sorry for Alice. He wanted Alice to fare well. Her pain was hurting her more than anyone else. He let Diane drive part of the way back.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

Martha called Owen's mobile phone. "Jack is a natural chimera; therefore, I can use the stem cells from the baby's cord to teach your body to accept the foreign cells. Thus, you'll no longer need steroids or other immunosuppressant drugs."

"Why did no one think of that before?" Owen would still need steroids for the muscle aches and inflammation. He was physically only 27 and he already had arthritis in his knees, shoulders and elbows, but anything to cut down the cocktail of drugs he was taking was good.

"I didn't learn until recently that his unborn child has alien DNA while Alice doesn't," said Martha. "Jack is very private about his biology. I just learned that he can deliver naturally and doesn't need a C-section."

"If he dies giving birth, he just resurrects," said Owen.

"So you think I should let him deliver?" said Martha.

"I would," said Owen. "He mentioned being pregnant before. Did he carry the last child to term?"

"Yes, he buried the child," said Martha.

"Where?" asked Owen.

"You should ask when," said Martha. "He was young and scared. He didn't know he was pregnant until he went into labour. He killed the baby and buried it somewhere on the Boeshane Peninsula. That was before he left Boeshane to become a time agent."

"Does he know we're talking about his biology?"

"I'm allowed to have a medical consult," Martha stated. "And with Jack's biology being what is is, you're it."

"Joy," stated Owen.

"We may decease your dependency of immunnosuppressant drugs and, eventually, get you off."

"Dr. Frankenstein, sign me up."

"That makes you the Monster," teased Martha.

"Does not," said Owen. "Frankenstein abandoned his monster. You would never abandon me."

"We're flirting, again."

"Are we?" Owen said with a lilt in his voice.

"I'm a married woman."

"I may be in a steady relationship, but I'm not dead."

"You're not," said Martha.

"As Jack says, you have the voice of a nightingale," said Owen. "Ring me anytime."

"I shall," said Martha. "Back to stem cell therapy."

"My genes are all yours."

While Martha and Owen were talking about the latest research on stem cell therapy on kidney transplant patients, and Jack having human DNA and alien DNA in his body without rejection, and how this information could be beneficial to Owen, Diane cosied up to him on bed. "Who are you talking to?"

Owen said, "Dr. Frankenstein."

Diane took the phone. "He's my monster."

Owen put his hand over Diane's, shut the flip phone and growled at her. While growling softer, more like a coo, he, awkwardly, unbuttoned Diane's crisp white blouse. Diane laughed as Owen manhandled her. Owen continued to make inhuman sounds while they made love. Being a re-animated corpse was so much better than being a corpse because he could have sex, again. He was alive. And life was worth a bit of pain or, in his case, a lot of pain.

xxxx

The next day, it was the boat ride to Flat Holm. It ended up being easier staying at Flat Holm for four days then spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Diane. Except if Diane had weekend holiday tours to fly then he worked when she worked and took his days off during the week. His time away from Diane made his time with Diane all the more special. That night a nurse's aide found him in the laundry.

"Why are you washing linens?" she asked.

Owen stopped watching the dryer spin to look at her. "Because they won't wash themselves."

"You're a doctor." She sat down on the other chair in the room.

"I did laundry and other odd jobs when I was here last," Owen said.

She looked at his face. "That's odd."

"We have one lightbulb. The light can play tricks on you. There are no monsters in the shadows. I promise." And Owen knew all too much about monsters after working in Torchwood: Sex monsters, space whales, shapeshifting monsters. He had seen it all.

"You worked all day and into the night, no evening shadow."

"Scarring. Do you also want to see my zipper where they cracked open my chest?" said Owen. "I also have a beautiful pink scar running down the palm of my hand."

"You're pretty banged up."

"What you don't see is all the interior scarring of my muscles, ligaments and tendons, but I feel it each time I move or even breathe." All the tearing happened while he was dead; thus, he couldn't feel it occurring. "Listening to the clothes bang in the dryer is calming like the motion of a train."

"Sorry," said the young lady.

"No, I'm sorry. It's late and it's the pain talking."

She took his hand. "May I sit here?"

"You already are," said Owen. "And I have a steady girl."

xxxx

Author's Notes: It's fiction not real life, so I needed to tie the two plots together. Also I like that Martha and Owen are calling Jack's anatomy and physiology _his biology_ like it is some naughty secret that they shouldn't be talking about. You can practically hear the whispered tones.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does. Uneek is an my character. She is unique. Groan.

xxxx

Owen explained to Diane. "I'll need to be in a sterile environment until I grow marrow that recognises my heart cells. Martha is giving me alien DNA. If this works, I won't be fully human when I come home."

"Will the alien DNA help with the pain?" asked Diane.

"No, Jack experiences pain, besides I'm getting Jeremy's completely mortal stem cells." Owen, smiling to spite himself, cuddled next to Diane and placed an arm around her. "What is amazing is Jeremy survived nearly nine months in Jack's womb."

"The nine months aren't over." Still lying in bed, Diane wrapped her arms around Owen.

"Yes, but if Jack should die now, Jeremy can survive as long as what killed Jack doesn't also kill him."

Diane wrapped her arms around Owen. "Is being alive worth the pain?"

"Here I am cuddled in your arms after a good night's sleep. And you still look beautiful when you're well shagged." Owen held Diane close. "How can you even ask?"

"I see you look at the Oxycontin bottle and sometimes touch it." Diane rested her head on Owen's chest. "You hold it in your hand, but never open the bottle. You aren't weak if you take a pill to ease your pain."

"If I was screaming in pain or unable to work, I would take one," said Owen. "I'm good most of the time."

"I hate seeing you in pain," said Diane.

"Life is pain. It is also joy. The taste of curry on the tongue and you in my arms. Us touching skin to skin. Our naked bodies in the heat of passion. When I was dead, I could please you, but you couldn't excite my lifeless body. Now we have give and take. You and I together." Owen felt a bit bad that he bought up food before sex. But curry was pain and joy in one mouthful. Heat and the flavour of cinnamon, ginger and coriander.

Diane kissed him. She kissed him lower, enjoying that they had both fallen asleep naked the night before.

xxxx

Owen and Uneek went out for drinks that night since Diane had a late flight. As they got a table, Owen asked, "Where's Dave?"

"We start talking work and Dave feels like a third wheel," explained Uneek.

"I'm getting a bone marrow transplant in a few weeks," said Owen. "And Diane asked if it is all worth it."

"What is worth it?" asked Uneek.

Owen waved a hand over his face then his chest then let his hand settle on his chest as his lungs filled and emptied with his breath. "This. Life."

"When you hid in your book, you were a bystander; now you are part of the action," Uneek said. "It's more than eating crisps and drinking beer. You smile more and you laugh more. What we feel doesn't matter; how do you feel?"

"I was insulted that Diane asked such a question," said Owen. "If I had a few seconds of life then died, it would have been worth it. This is over the top worth it."

After ordering their beers, Uneek said, "You aren't here to avoid Diane?"

"Fuck no. I sent her off to the airport well shagged - very happy that I'm alive."

After the beer arrived and Owen paid for the round, Uneek said, "She didn't say that to hurt you."

Owen sipped some of his beer. "I know. She hates seeing me in pain."

"She's probably also worried about your upcoming procedure." Uneek drank some of her beer.

Owen didn't really want to talk about his procedure although he was the one to bring it up. He was getting alien DNA injected into his body in the hopes that new marrow would accept the foreign DNA in his new heart as his. If his blood stopped making antibodies against the heart DNA, he wouldn't need immunosuppressant drugs. The procedure was sound. But Uneek wasn't a doctor. Owen drank more of his beer and enjoyed the company.

Uneek took Owen's hand. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"We had make-up sex," said Owen. "We're good."

"Sometimes, make-up sex is like a beer or drugs. It makes you feel good but doesn't solve anything." Uneek still had her hand over Owen's.

"I'm the one studying to be a therapist," said Owen. "Don't try to out psycho-babble me."

"That's the Owen I worked with for almost a year." Uneek put her hand back on her drink. "A snappy comeback for every occasion."

"I love you, too."

"Don't let Dave hear that," Uneek teased.

"We're girlfriends." Owen looked down at his lap to see he was wearing ladies cut jeans and a graphic tee. His tee didn't scream that it was bought in a women's clothing store, but still. And his grey hoodie covered most of his tee. Except for the suit he wore to Martha's wedding, all his men's clothes were pre-Flat Holm.

Uneek just smiled at that remark. Then she laughed and held her hand over her mouth until the coughing and laughing stopped. "Love, you're dangerous. I don't know when you're joking or serious."

"I was a zombie only a few months ago. This is all icing on my cake." Owen was thinking about sitting across a table watching Tosh sip her beer from a bottle. His mind raced back to when Tosh came to his flat when he broke his finger then went for a swim in his clothes. He wouldn't let himself get that sad ever again.

Earth with its Weevils wasn't a rubbish heap; it was the punchline. There was no God or God had a sick sense of humour. The King of the Weevils decided either way; he would laugh.


	10. Chapter 10

Authors' Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

The London warehouse had the room for the clean room. After Jeremy was born, Martha bought the cord over to the warehouse in an ice cooler. Then she used a long needle to get a few heart cells from Owen. Finally, she irradiated his femur since it's the largest bone in the body. Still on immunosuppressant drugs and having the marrow in his leg irradiated, Owen wanted to be under plastic wrap again - this time to keep the germs out.

After Martha injected the stem cells and heart cells into the marrow, she explained, "We take you off the drugs and wait to see if rejection occurs. All your text books have been autoclaved and you can read all the latest medical journals over the net. You have plenty of time for revising."

"Can Diane visit?"

"Tomorrow or the next day," explained Martha. "We can revise together if you like. I'll bring the pizza. It will be like med school."

"No beer," said Owen.

"Sorry," said Martha. "As your doctor, I advise against it."

"What about Jeremy?" asked Owen.

"Rhiannon agreed to help Jack and Ianto with the newborn in my absence," said Martha. "I'll be back in a few hours. You catch up with your reading."

xxxx

Owen had teased Ianto that they did the procedure in London, so Owen wouldn't learn the location of the newest Torchwood. Since Jack had the baby at home, in the bed he shared with Ianto, Ianto put the camera and mike in the bedroom, so Jack could rest.

Rhiannon waved at Owen with baby Jeremy in her arms. Her nephew had chubby cheeks, spiky black hair and the bluest eyes. Owen couldn't see much of Jack or Ianto in him then, other than Jeremy's dimples, then all newborn babies sort of look the same.

"Owen, you're a doctor," said Rhiannon. "Tell Jackie that breastmilk is best."

Owen decided to keep his mouth shut this once.

"Jackie," groaned Jack. "See what you started, Yan."

Ianto took the baby out of camera view. "Rhiannon has her Johnny and I have my Jackie."

Then the camera was moved to view the bed.

Jack had the baby in his arms and was giving him a bottle. "Captain Jack."

"Jackie. Like Jackie Cooper." Rhiannon was a bit like Ianto - only female and scarier.

Owen wished he was in the room with them and not kilometres away. "Are Johnny and the children there?"

"Plenty of time for the littles to see their nephew. Johnny just got used to the idea of Ianto being queer," explained Rhiannon. "We told Johnny that Jackie and Ianto used a surrogate mother. We don't want Johnny calling Jackie a he-she."

Jack sat up in bed, showing his wet tee shirt. "I'm all man."

"He-man, your breasts are leaking Colostrum," teased Rhiannon.

Jack repositioned Jeremy to hide his leaky nipples from the camera, making Owen laugh, because the Colostrum had soaked through Jack's white tee shirt.

"All seriousness," said Rhiannon. "Jackie isn't even bleeding. He and Ianto could go at it tonight, if they didn't have a newborn to watch. I don't have to look down there to know his healing is amazing. He's a medical wonder."

"Jackie will make time," said Ianto.

"Jeremiah has to nap," said Jack.

"Jeremy," said Ianto. "No renaming our son."

"Jeremy is the diminutive form of Jeremiah," said Jack. "And only you and your sister can call me Jackie."

Owen said, "Like Jackie Chan."

Jack said, in defeat, "I've been called worse."

Ianto kissed his forehead. "Captain Jack to everyone else."

Jack put a hand between himself and the camera. "Owen is watching."

"I'm here," said Rhiannon.

"You're family," said Jack.

"You don't even have a cot." Rhiannon shook her head. "You're two big men. You'll flatten the baby."

"We have a bassinet," said Ianto.

"You need a proper cot." Rhiannon rolled her eyes. "You two are as helpless as my Johnny."

"Can't we borrow Mica's?" asked Ianto.

"I gave all her baby things to a neighbour," said Rhiannon. "Owen, I have to go before I punch my brother."

"You two make me glad I'm an only child," teased Owen. "Drive friendly."

"Will do. When I get back, I'm enrolling both of you in my parenting 101 class." Rhiannon waved to the camera before leaving the room.

"Bye, sis," Ianto shouted.

After Rhiannon was gone, Owen said, "I found the box of alien artefacts Martha and Mickey found in the rumble. Seeing the ghost machine didn't bring back good memories. I'm not proud of the way I treated Ed Morgan."

"He was a murderer," said Ianto.

"And I was a sadistic arsehat," said Owen. "Two wrongs don't make a right."

"It's history," said Ianto.

Owen forced himself to smile. "I told Martha never to turn it on when the two pieces are assembled. We also found a mind-reading necklace similar to Mary's."

"And I wasn't told," said Jack.

"You were grieving for your grandson and I though Martha took the box with her," Owen explained. "I didn't really think about it then I saw the box while I was packing."

"I'll have Mickey or Gwen pick it up," said Ianto.

"You let Tosh believe she destroyed a unique item when you had one in storage," said Owen.

"I don't tell you guys everything," said Jack.

Owen gave the camera an eyeful. "I know. You have your reasons."

"How did you know it's a mind-reading necklace?" asked Ianto.

"It looked like Mary's necklace, and Jack just confirmed it," said Owen. "I wouldn't put it on. If I was going to put it on to see what people think of me, I wouldn't tell you about it."

"Did you?" asked Ianto.

"Fuck no." Owen looked at himself wearing a lady's dressing gown over his hospital gown. Some psychiatrist - Owen didn't even know if he was too nice to throw out a gift from a friend, too lazy to buy a new dressing gown or simply didn't care. Since Uneek wouldn't be visiting, he was going with lazy. "I know I'm fucked up. I don't need other people confirming that."

"Does Diane know?" asked Ianto.

"What is this?" Owen said to the camera. "An interrogation?"

"It's a simple question," said Ianto.

"She knows they're alien artefacts. Mickey, Martha and I were talking about them with her in the room. She's been inside Torchwood. You don't retcon Rhys and he is up to his ears in this shit." Owen said. "This is total bollocks. I'm in a secured Torchwood facility."

"Diane isn't," said Ianto.

"You leave Diane out of this! You and Jack have always had issues with me. That's part of the reason I work in Flat Holm instead of Torchwood proper. I'm going to turn off the computer and get to my revising." With that Owen turned off his computer and limped over to his night table to get a book. Then he settled back in bed to read.

Before he had opened the book to the first chapter, the phone rang. Owen answered it. "What now?"

"I was just calling to make sure you didn't do anything stupid," said Ianto. "And Jackie and I care about you. And you have issues with me. I've always been more than polite."

"I'm not going to run off and get myself septic," said Owen. "Each second might be gravy, but I want my full of seconds."

"You shot Jack because you feared Diane was in trouble," said Ianto.

"And you put all of Torchwood in jeopardy for Lisa," said Owen. "So, Tea-boy, you have no talking room. Martha can collect the box and all is forgiven."

"Fair enough," said Ianto.

Owen hear crying in the background.

"I have to go," whispered Ianto.

After putting down the phone, Owen returned to his reading.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does. British TV is all gloom and doom. So I need to write my own happy ending.

xxxx

Martha came back with pizza and a 2 litre bottle of Coca-cola. The pizza was on a metal tray. Owen supposed that she rather throw out the pizza box then sterilise it.

"How are we going to to this?" asked Owen. "You can't eat with a mask over your face and if you eat behind plastic that really isn't eating together."

"The air in this room is constantly being filtered." Martha was in surgical scrubs, had hair net covering her hair, cloth booties over her shoes, gloves on her hands, and a surgical mask over her mouth and nose - not what you would wear to a pizza party. "As long as I don't breath on you or eat within a few metres of you, you'll be fine."

"A few metres." Owen was wearing the same terrycloth slippers and dressing gown as he did the last time he was in the hospital. "You might as well eat behind plastic."

"One or two metres - outside your personal space," corrected Martha. "I didn't think this through."

Owen look at the pizza on its metal tray sitting on a work table. "It's the thought that counts."

Martha looked at the pizza and soda then Owen. "Enjoy the food."

"You can share," said Owen.

"Even wearing gloves, I can contaminate the food," said Martha. "I'm sorry. I can watch you eat if you like, and we can still revise together."

"You buy me beer and we have a deal," suggested Owen.

"Alcohol is an antiseptic," teased Martha, "And anything that kills germs is good."

Owen poured himself a glass of soda then took a slice of pizza. Since he hadn't eaten since breakfast, he was hungry. He sat down on his bed and started eating. Owen had eaten half the pizza and drank most of the Coke when Martha, finally, left to get beer.

Owen turned on the computer and bought up the video link. "Is Rhiannon there?"

"She's with Jackie and the baby," said Ianto. "I'm a father. Jeremy is so fucking amazing. He has Jackie's dimples. He has these chubby hands. With Jackie as his father, he can't be anything but beautiful."

Owen winked at him. "You're not bad looking yourself, Eye Candy."

"Johnny thinks we used a surrogate. He's built more like me than Jackie - burly - but you can't deny the dimples."

"You should have thought of a cover story," said Owen.

"We had a cover story - we said we used Jackie's sperm since Jackie just lost his grandson," said Ianto. "But now that Jeremy is here, I want to shout that he's mine."

"You're his father," said Owen. "Any DNA test can prove that."

"Your blood has Jeremy's DNA, your donor's DNA and yours," said Ianto. "If anyone wants to run a genetic test on you, they better go for a cheek cell."

Owen smiled. "You're stuck with me. You can't retcon my marrow."

"You've been Jackie's responsibility since he bought you back from the dead."

"I'm responsible for me," said Owen.

"He loves you," said Ianto.

Owen made a face.

"Like a son," said Ianto.

"Or a puppy dog." Owen thought about Jack playing with his hair.

"Owen, what's going on with you? After you saw Barbara, your wig was always brushed and you cared about your clothes. Now you look like you're dressing in the dark. I don't know if you're going for some genderqueer grunge look or if you stopped caring?"

"I'm not you," said Owen. "I don't wear a three-piece suit to take in the post. I like hoodies and tight jeans."

"You're the head of staff at a clinic," said Ianto. "You need to look professional."

"When I do out-reach or work with the patients and their families, I wear a business suit," said Owen. "I'm not stupid."

"It's more than your clothes. You don't seem to care anymore."

"It's genderfuck, not genderqueer," said Owen. "And if I dress like I don't give a fuck then I'm doing something right. The idea is to play with gender roles. I am saying to the world I can dress as I want and be who I want and you can't put me in any bloody box."

"Does Diane like how you dress?"

"She bought me thongs to wear with my low-cut jeans. She says she understands that I don't want anyone seeing my railroad tracks, but I have a sexy bum and I should show it off."

"As long as Diane is happy."

"Diane wears her aviation jackets and buys her shirts and trousers in the men's department. Then she can wear the sexiest gown and outshine the sun. I only knew Diane a few days when she flew back into the rift. I fell in love with the idea of Diane. I know that now. But now I love the real Diane more than any image in my head."

xxxx

After he turned off the video chat, Owen called Diane, wondering what was keeping Martha. She was probably sterilising the outside of the beer bottles. Martha was getting a bit carried away in his opinion. A pathogen could get on his fingers then enter his mouth when he wiped his face or something. So erring on the side of caution had a point but still. He knew how fast bacteria multiplied; therefore, it only took a single germ entering his body to give him septicaemia. Without the T-cells, all the antibiotics in the world wouldn't cure him. But he hated being trapped in this plastic prison.

Owen said on the phone. "Diane, I'm lonely."

"Mickey set up the computer for us to chat face-to-face when he came by to collect the alien shit," said Diane. "I may need you to talk me through it. He tells me it's easy-peasy, but he grew up with the wretched things."

"Don't bother," said Owen. "I see your face and I'll want to touch you."

"I miss you."

"We spend days apart with me working at Flat Holm, not to mention, your flying. I don't know why this feels different."

"Because you can't leave," said Diane. "You're feeling a bit stir-crazy. It's normal."

"I was dead a few months ago. Not dead dead - the walking dead. I have part-alien stem cells in my marrow. Nothing about me is normal. I wouldn't know normal if it hit me on the head. Even my job isn't normal. I treat people that have been to alien worlds and were returned to Earth unable to cope."

"You can rant," said Diane. "I won't hang up on you."

"I don't know what to say," said Owen. "Ianto thinks I don't care. It isn't that I don't care. I've seen death and now I'm alive, again. Mundane shit doesn't matter like it once did. Then again, some mundane shit matters more. The taste of pizza. Gooey cheese running down my chin, tomato sauce burning my palate. It's amazing. Even a shower, to feel the warm water on my back, you have no idea."

"I know you care," said Diane. "I know how hard you work to make your patients' lives better."

"I feel like calling Helen to check on my patients," said Owen. "Although I can't work until my T-cells are at normal levels, I feel like I'm letting them down."

"Honey, I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Don't let Ianto's words hurt you. He doesn't know you like I do."

"I shot Jack not because people were dying of black death - I saw you in pain," said Owen. "I'm selfish."

"You pleased me in bed - lovingly, patiently - when your own body felt nothing," said Diane. "That is the most unselfish thing anyone has done. I don't deserve that kind of love."

Owen smiled wistfully, although Diane couldn't see his smile. "I went into a cage with a Weevil after you left. When you flew off, part of me died. I should hate you, but looking at these plastic walls and feeling the blast of rapidly circulating air, I understand your need to flee. I'm going to pace a hole in this heavily bleached concrete floor."

Diane said, "I'll visit as soon as Martha gives the OK. We can talk on the phone or video chat until then."

"The girl from the 50's is going to video chat." Owen laughed. "This I have to see."

"You can talk me through or I can have Mickey walk me through," said Diane. "I can pilot an aeroplane, and the newer ones are 99 percent computer."

"But you prefer your Cessna," teased Owen.

"It isn't mine," said Diane. "It belongs to the airfield and I prefer the _Sky Gypsy,_ but she's lost in the Rift."

Finally, Martha, in her protective gear, returned with 2 bottles of beer.

Owen said, "Martha has returned. We can talk later."

"Be good," said Diane.

"You ask too much," said Owen.

"And I so like it when you're bad," said Diane.

"I miss touching you." Owen made his good-byes a few more times before hanging up the phone.

xxxx

Author's Note: I know from the traffic that people are reading my stories. Please, review.


	12. Epilogue

Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.

xxxx

Epilogue

After Martha and Mickey took over a surgery in the country, Owen became the Torchwood doctor, again. Martha had enough of aliens with the Doctor, then UNIT and, finally, Torchwood. She wanted to retire somewhere where her worst problem would be a swine flu epidemic. Jack didn't retcon the Smiths or anyone else that left Torchwood willingly after them. Ianto had said, at the time, that was because Jack wanted Martha to be able to return to do consulting when necessary. The Smiths went on to have two children and a number of grandchildren before Mickey died several years before Martha.

Just before her 41th birthday, Gwen died in a car accident. She was outlived by Rhys and their two children.

Diane was only 63 when she lost her battle with cancer. Owen had lovers, but no one ever stole his heart like Diane. Alice forgave Jack when she was on her deathbed. Ianto lived long enough to see Jeremy marry and make him a grandfather. Owen, at 91, no longer did field work. Jack, who didn't look a day over 45, teased Owen that he could pass for 65 on a good day.

"Jack, you're such a liar," Owen grumbled, who looked every one of his 90 plus years. He saw all the twenty-something recruits as his children then his grandchildren since he and Diane decided not to breed. That night some punk kid tried to rob him at knife point, but a Weevil groaned submissively at Owen and the kid ran. Owen went to sleep, thinking that he may be old and grey, but he still had it.

xxxx

When Owen didn't show for work, Jack went to his flat to check on him. Owen must had died in his sleep. Death, finally, took him. "Rest. You deserve it."

xxxx

Author's Notes: I hate Gwen bashing. However, she is the only mortal team member to survive the series and having her dying from a Weevil attack seemed too trite. Also I'm not writing any kid fics with Anwen and Jeremy. Totally4Ryo does a great job with her _Time after Time_ stories. Stephanie and Ifan are more adorable then any original characters I would write. Kudos, Totally4Ryo. In case, you're wondering why it is Torchwood 6. Torchwood 4 is missing and 5 would be the next London office after the Canary Wharf incident, making the post-Hub Torchwood number 6.


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